Jag seems to have summed it up well on the first page of the thread; madeline is welcome to correct me if I'm wrong:

Quote

It's a tough board, in that anything said well be read critically to see if it holds up under careful examination. There's little patience for theists who arrive intent on saving us godless sinners, but can't be bothered to spend some time reviewing the history to see if they have anything new to add. There's little tolerance for assertions that aren't, or can't be, supported by evidence, ideally empirical evidence. No one gets away with BS on the "serious" topics, and may be called out for it on more light topics too. Many of the members have been here for a long time, and are often well read across a wide range of topics, so odds are good there's someone in the community who is fairly knowledgeable in whatever topic may be under discussion. And everyone knows how to use Google.

It's all about critical thinking. Part of what I love about this place is that I can see a well-constructed argument in action. I can see logical fallacies in "real world" context, and watch them get dismantled. Sometimes the conversation takes a familiar path, and sometimes it deviates into completely unexpected areas, but it's almost always enlightening. You can get hammered on for a poor word choice. You will hear about it if you post without thinking through what your audience is going to read in your words that you may not have intended. Any bias that shows up will be brought into the light to be examined in minute detail. And you'll be a better communicator for it.

--Jag

Logged

Live a good life... If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones. I am not afraid.--Marcus Aurelius

I love this place..have for a long time..but you guys really hate newcomers..lol..

I would say rather that, in general you get what you give.If you're prone to giving thoughtful input on whatever topic you're posting on generally speaking you'll get it back. There is a caveat to that though, and that is that as a new member you're stepping into a forum about religion with members who've been arguing this stuff for years.

If you're new to debating religion, or even politics take a bit to observe before jumping in with both feet. People here have seen so many repetitions of the same arguments over and over that they tend to snap when they see them. It may be that the whole idea of say, St. Anselms proof, or Pascals wager is new and fresh to you, like a loaf from the oven. I assure you however, that it's been covered.

Try to realize this, and approach the topic from that angle. Not doing this is probably the most frequent mistake that I see new members make, and also the most likely place that you'll see a shark tank spontaneously form.

Some members are just randomly confrontational, like Nam for example. He is capable of advancing a fairly strong argument when it suits him, but also prone to nitpicking, as demonstrated in this thread.

Well Nam deserves to be loved regardless of his lack of social skills..I don't say this to be sarcastic as I have a foster brother who suffers from Asperger's Disorder, I suppose I should have seen the symptoms..my bad.